How does a nuclear power plant work?
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Certain materials are considered fisile. That’s the technical term for materials that are made out of unstable atoms. The atoms in nuclear fuel are large and don’t hold together well. They tend to split into smaller atoms along with some spare parts. Those spare parts sometimes hit other atoms, making them more likely to split as well. When atoms split, they release the energy that was holding them together in the form of heat. We can capture that heat by immersing rods of nuclear fuel in water and letting that water boil. From that point on, a nuclear power plant doesn’t operate in any significant way from a coal or gas burning power plant. High presure steam from the boiling water forces turbines to spin, and those turbines are attached to dynamos, which use the motion magnets and coils of wire to create electric current.
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